Common Scenarios In Regard To Sex Crimes

Interviewer: In regard to solicitation and sex crimes and prostitution, what’s the most common scenario that you see?

Eric Sachs: The most common scenario is somebody who makes arrangements to have sex with another. They’re in a car, and it’s in an area that the police refer to as a prostitution prone area or a drug prone area. I don’t think the majority of cases are sting cases; the majority of cases are when the cops just see what’s going on, they know it’s happening, they go over to the area, and they find the people. In the cities, they find the people that are still out on the streets. They watch them take money and get into cars.

They arrest somebody like a prostitute who then, to help her own self, will give up her pimp. It’s not as often that the John gets arrested, although we’re starting to see those, but that’s usually how it comes into being. There are still the stings we discussed, where it’s a one-on-one and an undercover cop will either pretend to be a prostitute or pretend to be a John. Occasionally you’ll get a big sting where they’ll get a hundred because they’ll put these advertisements out, but I think it’s more of cleaning up an area that the public complains about because there are drugs and sex going on there and the police come and they’ll catch people doing that. I think that’s still the majority of what’s going on.

Aggravating Factors for Sex Crimes

Interviewer: What are some things that the client will do that will hurt their case?

Eric Sachs: Like every case, the client talks to the police and they admit that they did something. If the client is found engaging in sex, that’s okay, until the client says, “He paid me,” or, “She paid me,” or they admit, “Yes, we were having sex for money.” Talking to the police is never a good idea. Although I say, “Never say never,” I do say, “Never talk to the police.” It’s always a bad idea. That doesn’t help your case.

From there, there’s just being uncooperative with the police. If the person gets arrested, just cooperate and go through the system, but it’s best to understand you have a right to remain silent and don’t admit that you did anything. Certainly people try to deny things and end up admitting things, so we tell everybody that the worst thing they can actually do is make a statement and think it’s going to get better if you just cooperate with the police. That’s not a good thing to do.

Mitigating Factors involving Sex Crimes

Interviewer: What are some things that will help their case?

Eric Sachs: Aside from not doing it in the first place?

Interviewer: Well, aside from not doing it in the first place, but what sort of cooperation would you expect someone to have?

Eric Sachs: I would tell them there’s no cooperation that will help their case without having an attorney present who can then talk to the police or somebody else to see if certain cooperation would be helpful. For instance, if there’s a prostitute, what kind of help does she want? Does she want to get away from her pimp? Does she want to give up the life? Is she looking for a program? What is in the best interest of my client first, and then what information and what kind of cooperation do they want?

If I’m affiliated with a pimp, if I give you the pimp’s name, will that help me better my case? Will that help me get out of this? I tell everybody it doesn’t really help your case to cooperate without finding out from a lawyer first and having everything made official. Otherwise, the cooperation tends to be held against you.